30A

 Final Reflection:

After reviewing my work throughout the semester I can confidently say I have grown as an entrepreneur throughout this class. I have had countless highs however I have also had a few lows. I was able to think through some tough situations and I think I came out the other side a better entrepreneur when it was all said and done. The most formative experience to me was the elevator pitch assignments. I do not like presenting and I did not know how to use youtube or even the comera on my computer for that matter. The task seemed somewhat daunting at first but I was able to lay out all  my obstacles and overcome them one at a time just like an entrepreneur trying to over come the obstacles of creating a start up business. The most fun assignment in this class was the book reviews as I really enjoy reading. I think this assingment should happen more often because it was a joy to do and was very informative. I think doing well in this course would not be a struggle for most students grade wise. However, you can take a lot out of this class if you foster your mindset correctly. I believe in order to cultivate the right mindset you have to come into each assignment with the idea of becoming a better entrepreneur in any way. Some assignments may make help you more than others but never miss the opportunity to grow. Thank you so much for a great semester and go gators.

29A

 Opportunity:

I have decided to open up my own hair cut service. In my last venture concept assignment I set my target segment as young adult males. However I feel as though I can start doing girl haircuts as well in order to stretch out this opportunity. The nature of this need is inherent in everyone because everyone needs to get a haircut at some point. It was very limiting to only try to service a small section of people rather than exploiting a much larger population. The corona virus pandemic pushed the need for my service to an even greater height as many barbershops have closed or are working at limited capacity. However the window of opportunity will be open even after a vaccine comes out as the service becomes more convenient with use. 

Innovation:

The innovation in my business is rather incremental but who said we had to recreate the wheel here. I think my area would benefit greatly from a traveling hair cut service and would become very profitable. I would simply set up an app where customers can pick an appointment time and location and then I come to them. it would be safe and easy and I can even implement screening and a corona virus questionnaire  to maintain social distancing guidelines as well. I would charge $25 for a thirty minute haircut or $35 plus cost of materials for an hour haircut. 

Venture Concept:

As stated above, I see an opportunity to provide haircuts to people in my area at a fair price and in a safe environment. I think a traveling haircut service could take advantage of social distancing guidelines well and be profitable. 

Other elements:

I think my most important resource is the human capital my business possesses. I want to provide not only a convenient hair cut but also the best haircut. Those things wouldn't happen without me. The next step for my venture is creating a scheduling app to book appointments. And in five years I would have hoped to add a few other barbers to my concept and expand to an even greater area. 

The feedback I received on my last assignment helped me to refine my ideas a lot. I thought it was all mainly positive but there was good ideas like expanding my service to girls hair cuts as well. So I took that feedback and decided to add it to my concept. 

28A

If I were to create a successful startup company I think the last thing on my mind would be an exit strategy. I think this assignment is interesting and this class never stops amazing me with all the unique angles and approaches we take on the business world. The business venture I have been developing throughout this course is far from finished however my I know already I would be creating something to preserve for the long term. My ultimate goal in life is to create generational wealth for my family so they never have to face the struggles I have had to face in my life. So as for an exit strategy, I would want to keep the business in the family and continue to profit from it as long as possible. I think this exit strategy has impacted the way I have developed all my ideas so far in this class because I am never looking for a quick solution. I am always looking to create solid foundations on which to grow and maintain businesses. This falls in line with my ultamate life goal and is the reason why I will be successful in my life.

27A

I picked the biography "Steve Jobs" for this assignment. I was really surprised by what the author had to write about Steve's perseverance in the face of uncertainty. I think it is crucial for an entrepreneur to deal with loads of uncertainty as creating a new business never has a planned out road map. I really admired Steve's ability to utilize his creativity in his business plan. He was able to see in his head how to create a beautiful product and was able to actually create and sell his dream. I least admired his shiftiness when it came to dealing with his peers. I thought Steve was a bit abrasive. I noticed throughout the biography that Steve was able to use his personal connections with his friends to create the initial product. I think it is important for an entrepreneur to utilize their social capital. I was not confused at all during the reading unfortunately. If I were able to ask Steve Jobs two questions the first would be what he attributes his success to. I think it is interesting to debate what it actually was that brought him towards success as well as what he actually thought brought him there. I would also ask him about how he was able to create a market of his own and what challenges he found most difficult. It is clear to see Steve values hard work however he also recognizes which basket to put his eggs into clearly as he did not finish college.

26A

     Throughout this semester I have had a lot of opportunities in this class to go out and try things I have not yet done before. And with these new opportunities has come a mountain of new successes. But I would be lying to say that everything I tried this semester has led to success and in fact I have had and learned a lot from my failures as well. I think the most powerful failure I have had over this semester is was with the elevator pitch assignments. I usually do not like to present so this was the first initial challenge I had to face. After I wrote what i was going to say to the camera I rehearsed it a few times until I felt I had a good rhythm and then I started recording. Unsurprisingly, my first few attempts at this assignment were not good enough to turn in so I kept trying until the product was ready to be turned in. The next roadblock I faced with this assignment was creating a you tube channel. Although this may seem like an easy task it actually caused me a bit of trouble and time. After it was all said and done though I learned new ways of overcoming challenges from this assignment.

25A

Step1:

To start, in my already identified existing market, I believe my business venture can expand into many other personal services that people have been deprived of since the start of the global pandemic. This could include things like manicures and pedicures. I could also pivot my business venture to include womens haircuts as well even though I am not as good at cutting women's hair.

STEP 2/3:

Based on my interviews, I think I can shift my service to skin care as well. After talking to three customers in my target segmen, I realized that in addition to a hair cut many of them would also get a facial treatment in addition to the haircut if they could schedule the appointments at the same time in the same place. Being able to provide both services would increase my revenues a lot however many challenges lie ahead if I were to add an entirely new service to my business venture.

Some of the potential issues that go into adding a new service would be the extra costs in supplies needed. Also I would have to devise a way to travel safely and effectively with all the new equipment and supplies necessary to get the job done.

As far as continuing forward in the already existing market I think there are many challenges that lie ahead. But these challenges all provide more customers with more unmet needs that can be exploited for profit. By adding an additional service to the one I am already capable of doing I can continue to service the target segment of my choice.

New Market:

So far, my business idea has been to target customers B2C. I think however with the right amount of barbers I could enter into a market with this idea B2B. What I mean by this is contracting with companies or other groups to give many haircuts to entire organizations at a discounted price. This could prove very profitable and helpful to both sides and I would have a lot more business and the customers would be getting discounted prices for my service. By lowering the price of each haircut slightly I would be able to drum up a lot more business by offering my services to entire companies/sports team/ religious groups/ etc.

After thinking a lot about this new market, I would have to adapt to the sheer number of additional appointments I would have to commit to. This means more time, expenses for supplies, and more potential for my service to lack in quality. Although I think with a team of barbers we could conquer these road blocks and ultimately make a very profitable business.

Additionally, cutting the hair of an entire organization also means I am likely to run into multiple new demographics to which I would have to learn how to give quality hair cuts too. This may pose an even bigger threat to the perceived quality of my haircuts.

After much consideration I think this may not be the best segment to try and venture into but I think the idea of thinking of different segments is very helpful to a business looking to expand its operations.

24A

     Throughout this course I have identified many potentially exploitable business opportunities as well as developed many of the skills required for an entrepreneur to be successful. Each assignment has taught me to think a lot about what it means to be an entrepreneur and through that thinking I have been able to identify many of my own strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, however, this course has given me the opportunity to develop and commit to the business concept of opening my own hair cutting service in my area. In this assignment I want to discuss this opportunity in more detail along with the innovation in my new business and the venture concept as a whole.

Opportunity:

When thinking about opportunity in the world of business, one should bring their attention first to market segments. Throughout this course I have been programmed to examine customers as part of larger segments that make up an overall larger market.  By using market segments to identify potential customers, we can also look into potential unmet needs that are common among our market segment. I decided to target young adults because it is a category that I fall into. Being a potential customer within your own market segment has helped me to see potential flaws in my business and helped me to see possible angles I could exploit to make my business profitable. I started by thinking some of my own unmet  needs and the first thing that came to mind was a haircut. I noticed that because of the Corona virus pandemic going on in our country and throughout the world, many personal and non essential businesses have shut down to help slow the curve. However, this has caused me, as well as many of my friends to have gone months without a haircut. My business opportunity was born. I set out to develop a cheap, easy and safe way to cut hair for people in my area. My service would work through a scheduling app where customers schedule an appointment at a time and place of their choice, and I would come to them and cut their hair. I can maintain a safe working environment despite the close encounter with customers by always wearing a mask and gloves while in an appointment, then sterilizing all my equipment after each visit.

The nature of a need for a haircut is one that few people do not possess. Because  a haircut is an easy place for people to turn to improve their self esteem. My business opportunity can exploit this under met need to have high self esteem. Customers are currently leaving this need unsatisfied, in the midst of the global pandemic. Many of the customers in my target segment are doing so because it is hard to maintain social distance in public while also getting a haircut. Additionally because many barbershops are now working at limited capacity, the wait time to get a haircut has also skyrocketed.  I can maintain social distance as stated above and I can eliminate long wait times by having customers schedule their appointments days in advance and allow customers to stay in the comfort of their own homes. I believe this opportunity has the potential to be very profitable in the short term as people look to fulfill this unmet need while also maintaining social distance. However I think this idea is very unique because it has long term potential as well. As customers get used to no wait times and getting a cheap but quality hair cut from the comfort of their own home, they will ditch the old model of going into a barber shop altogether. I think this has the potential to grow into a full time job in the future.

Innovation:

Whenever one is starting a new business concept, they have to consider what innovation they are bringing to the table that sets them apart from the competition. As discussed above, many young adults and males in my area have an unmet need, need a haircut, yet have no way to get one due to long wait times and the desire to maintain social distance. I think the innovation of creating a schedule where I come to people’s house to cut hair is very unique and creates a personal experience that innovates the hair cutting experience all together. I think that providing a haircutting service that goes to the customer is only incrementally innovative and may already exist. However, none in my area are of any note and there is a large opportunity for me to take advantage of a wide open market. Unfortunately again however my service is very imitable and can be copied very easily by competitors so I have to focus on providing a higher quality hair cut then other people which ultimately falls down to preference.

Venture Concept:

Now that I have addressed the opportunity I wish to exploit and the innovation I plan on utilizing to ensure my business is profitable in the short and long term, I can move on to the venture concept. Because wait times and hazardous conditions in the public, people now more than ever are looking for safe ways to receive services they used to go out and get. I believe by making a hair cutting service that goes to the customer and can fulfill my target segments under met needs while walking the tightrope their demands require. If I were to orchestrate a business from this plan it would be to maintain an app where independent contracted hairdressers can put up times for people to book appointments in any and all areas. This would mean there is no limit to the height this idea can climb.

Minor Elements:

The secret sauce to my venture is the app people would use to schedule an appointment and the top notch customer service I plan to provide.

The next step for this business venture is to recruit other barbers to get on to the scheduling app.




In five years, I would hope this business would have taken off and I can start to develop other non essential services people could receive from the comfort of their homes.